April 2011
50 posts
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“I wish there was a website where non-profits could ask for what they need and...”
– @ths1104, from The Internet Wishlist
An image of wooden prayer tablets in Japan made me think of this virtual suggestion box, of sorts, where people can petition their “prayers” for the future of technology. The quotation above was one of those submissions, which I liked because it...
March 2011
72 posts
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WatchHow Does Katy Payne Record Elephant Infrasound?
by Susan Leem, associate producer
Acoustic biologist Katy Payne has studied whale songs and elephant communications for decades, and she’s our featured guest on this week’s show. She works in the realm of infrasound. That is, sound which is lower in frequency than what the human ear can normally comprehend.
While spending time at a...
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The Enchantment of Minnehaha Falls
by Trent Gilliss, senior editor
(photo: ©Al Gage)
A long, prosperous winter is coming to pass. The spring thaw is upon us in Minnesota. And, it feels so necessary. But, it’s not without some remorse, especially when taking in the shocking beauty of Minnehaha Falls captured in such exquisite light. The creek is now assuming its dutiful labor, the water wresting and freeing itself from its...
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Arab and Jewish Women in Israel Should Join Forces
by Maram Masrawi, special contributor
There are those who argue that the representation of Arab Israeli women in recent years in various television “reality” programmes testifies to a profound change within Arab Israeli society in general, and among Arab Israeli women in particular. Admittedly, when Arab women can be seen walking around in sleeveless shirts and miniskirts on the television...
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On the Path to Competence
by Susan Leem, associate producer
The cover page of an unclassified report created for the Air Force Office of Scientific Research by the Dreyfus brothers.
“To become expert, one must take risks.” —philosopher Hubert Dreyfus
If you are ambitious and a perfectionist but extremely risk averse, these words of advice may create a lot of cognitive stress for you, as they do for me....
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Overwhelming Video of Tsunami Taking Out Entire...
by Trent Gilliss, senior editor
The plethora of footage showing the ravaging impact of the earthquake and resulting tsunami on Japanese cities and infrastructure pale in comparison to this hand-held video above. Many of us have seen this BBC video of Kesennuma in Miyagi Prefecture, a fishing town situated at the tip of a bay on the Pacific Ocean in northeastern Japan; but, when you watch the...
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Completely Free to Be Vulnerable: Martha Depp on...
by Trent Gilliss, senior editor
This afternoon we received the following email from Ben Depp, a photographer whose sister Martha, an artist and art teacher, was diagnosed with an advanced form of ovarian cancer:
“I put together a six-minute film on her art, life, and cancer. I think this is a good fit for your blog because of her spiritual journey through her cancer process, and...
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WatchThe Key to Relationship? Good Old-Fashioned Conversation about Everyday Topics
by Krista Tippett, host
As I write this, I am still reeling from the nine-day production trip that took us to Jerusalem as well as Bethlehem, Ramallah, and Hebron. Suffice it to say, everything I thought I understood about Israeli and Palestinian realities, indeed about “the Middle East” in general, was...
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Civil Singing... →
by Krista Tippett, host
This week’s show with Anthony Appiah is many things at once: thought-provoking, funny, intellectual, and a kind of a relief. He has enormous wisdom about human resistance to change and how it then really happens. But he also makes the point that reaching across contemporary divides of difference need not be the great moral struggle we tend to make it. It can be about...
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Peter King Gets His Comeuppance in the Senate
The ShortFormBlog points out the push and pull of Congressional whimsy:
action A couple weeks ago, Rep. Peter King attracted controversy by launching a Congressional hearing titled “The Radicalization of American Muslims.”
reaction At the behest of Illinois Democrat Dick Durbin, the Senate will be holding a hearing titled “Protecting the Civil Rights of American Muslims.” source
On the other...
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Let the Spiritual Cloning of Chuck Colson and His...
by Trent Gilliss, senior editor
“Charles Colson seeks to create clones to send forth with his evangelical message.”
This slug sitting atop a photo of the former Nixon staffer and Evangelical heavyweight certainly catches the eye. And even more so when it graces the front page of the Style section of today’s Washington Post.
The article does a fair job of presenting the...
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My Wish for Japan: A Softness Touching the Earth
by Sharon Kingston, guest contributor
Japan has been on all our minds and in all our hearts. There doesn’t seem to be enough capacity in the human soul to witness nature unleash its force on man in this way. Helplessness still sits with us even after the contributing of funds to relief efforts.
The magnitude of the disaster and continuing saga has made us all feel vulnerable to the...
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The Celebration of Ohigan During Japan's Time of...
by Susan Leem, associate producer
Katsuo Fujihara, 73, prays at the tomb of a dead family member at a cemetery in Kamaishi in Iwate prefecture. Still reeling 10 days after Japan’s deadliest natural disaster since 1923, the Japanese people marked shunbun no hi (vernal equinox day) on Sunday by visiting the tombs of their ancestors, cleaning them, and offering prayers and ohagi, sweet rice...
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“We all want to see more and more Jews immigrating to Israel, but we aren’t...”
– —Israeli Likud MK Danny Danon, chairman of the Committee for Immigration, Absorption and Diaspora Affairs.
Haaretz reports that Danon recently affirmed Sephardic Chief Rabbi Shlomo Amar’s decision not to recognize conversions by most Orthodox rabbis outside of Israel. The implication is that...
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“And while we’re on the subject of wise things, let’s not forget...”
– —Bill Moyers and Michael Winship, from “NPR: The Saga Continues” in The Huffington Post
It’s quite an honor to be mentioned by such a fine journalist and one of public media’s great ambassadors, let alone for Krista to be listed in the company of such esteemed company in... 